Thom Doucette, operations manager and tour guide for America Recycles Day Nov 15, stands in front of 24 pallets of recycled toner cartridges ready to be shipped out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base to be repurposed. (U.S. Air Force photo/W. Eugene Barnett)

Wright-Patt to celebrate America Recycles Day

Nov 15 is America Recycles Day. The Environmental Protection Agency recognizes the nation’s progress on recycling, which has contributed to American prosperity, according to the EPA website https://www.epa.gov/recycle/america-recycles-day-2018.

The recycling rate has more than tripled over the last 30 years to the current rate of 35 percent, and this steady growth has created jobs and wages for Americans and has supported community development. Recycling and reuse activities in the United States accounted for 757,000 jobs and produced $36 billion in wages in a single year.

Recycling has greatly reduced the amount of trash that is landfilled daily. Recent data shows that materials worth $9 billion are thrown away each year. The Wright-Patterson recycle rate is currently 50 percent.

“America Recycles Day brings attention to recycling,” said Dave Dalton, solid waste/recycling program manager. “What we are doing at Wright-Patterson is opening up the Recycling Center to the public for tours on Nov. 15, starting at 8 a.m., every hour with the last tour at 2 p.m.”